Effort underway to put Lincoln Depot on National Register of Historic Places

Saturday

Apr 26, 2014 at 9:30 PMApr 26, 2014 at 10:06 PM

By Tim LandisBusiness Editor

A memorable farewell speech from Abraham Lincoln 153 years ago has not been enough through the decades to get the Great Western Railroad Depot in Springfield on the National Register of Historic Places.

The owners of the two-story, brick structure at 10th and Monroe streets are planning to try, try again with aid from local researchers and architects.

“Most people are surprised. They assume it’s on the list,” Pinky Noll said.

Noll and husband Jon Noll, a Springfield attorney, purchased the building from The State Journal-Register in early 2012. After extensive renovation, the ground floor of what is better known as the Lincoln Depot reopened to the public in May 2013. Noll Law Office is on the upper level.

About 3,000 visitors toured the depot from May through August last year, according to the Nolls. Pinky Noll said approximately 400 have visited so far this year, despite the cold, wet spring.

The depot now has its own website, http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/sites/depot.htm, and several artifacts from the era have been added on the ground floor.

The added protection and prestige of the national register, Pinky Noll said, is the logical next step.

“The process is quite daunting,” Noll said. “I started the work myself but quickly realized I was in way over my head.”

‘Historical integrity’

Retired city historian Edward Russo has taken on the task of preparing the formal application for the national register.

Russo, who worked at the Sangamon Valley Collection at Lincoln Library for 30 years, said six months of research has gone into the near-completed application. The first stop would be at the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, said Russo, followed by the U.S. Park Service.

If all goes well, according to Russo, the depot could be on the register later this year.

“It’s been attempted three or four times before,” said Russo, who added that state historic preservation officials have helped refine the application.

“We’ve spent six months going back and forth,” Russo said. “We want to make sure we have the best possible case.”

Previous applications concentrated on the depot as the site of what has become known as the “Farewell Address” of President-elect Lincoln on the morning of Feb. 11, 1861. A special inaugural train was waiting to take Lincoln to Washington, D.C.

“My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting,” Lincoln told the crowd while standing just two blocks from his home.

The iconic speech and the building alone were not enough to earn a spot on the national register in previous efforts, according to backers of the latest application. Frequent building alterations through the decades were a major challenge.

“It doesn’t have the historical integrity,” Russo said.

Railroad history

Unlike previous, Lincoln-focused efforts, the latest application includes the speech and depot as part of the larger story of railroads in the early life, culture and growth of Springfield.

“It’s important as a Lincoln site,” Russo said. “It’s more important as the link to Springfield’s earliest railroad history. In 1830, there were no railroads. In 1860, the railroads were major corridors linking the whole country.”

Lincoln, Russo noted, played a vital role during his presidency in expansion of the nation’s railroad network.

Lincoln Home National Historic Site superintendent Dale Phillips said the state takes the lead role in National Register of Historic Places applications. But he noted that the Park Service once again began directing visitors to the depot after the restoration was completed. Park Service personnel also take part in special events at the depot.

“We tell folks it’s open and try to direct them there as often as possible,” said Phillips. “People are becoming more aware, and I think the number (of visitors) will go up.”

Pinky Noll’s restoration of the Lincoln Depot in Springfield has earned her an award for non-architects from the American Institute of Architects Illinois.

The Richard Nickel Award, named for Chicago photographer and preservationist Richard Stanley Nickel, was announced last week.

“It’s the only award we give to non-architects,” AIA Illinois executive vice president Mike Waldinger said.

Waldinger said the award recognizes projects that contribute to the culture and life of communities, as well as historic preservation. Waldinger said the Richard Nickel Award is awarded as judges see fit. Noll is only the third recipient since the award was created in 2005.

Pinky and her husband, Springfield attorney Jon Noll, purchased the depot in 2012 and restored it at their own expense. The ground floor reopened to the public in 2013. Law offices are on the upper floor.

Larry Quenette of Renaissance Architects Inc. of Springfield was the chief architect on the depot restoration. He nominated Pinky Noll for the award.

“They essentially, without any public assistance whatsoever, purchased and restored the building,” Quenette said. “In doing that, they kept the public tourism feature of the building.”

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